Toaster's Book o' Challenges
by Toastersbane
Summary: This is where I'll be posting my TaigaClan, TorrentClan, GladeClan, and CrestClan challenges from now on. Cover page by me. T rated for you know what.
1. Chapter 1

"What's with all the commotion?" Petalstone asked. When she came back to the ShadowClan camp, cats stayed silent, gathering around the leader's den. Their eyes were red when they looked at the she-cat. _What happened while I was gone? _

As she padded over to the leader's den, she saw it.

A ginger tabby was sprawled at the entrance of the den, his fur smoothed, his normally wise yellow eyes lifeless. He seemed to have leaves in his mouth, but they were half chewed. Petalstone stopped. She bent down, her sight going hazy as tears begun to form on her face, washing away the blood from the scratches she received.

"Embersun! Why did you leave me?" she wailed. _It's all my fault! _The black and white she-cat buried her face in his fur, making crimson smudges in it, memories starting to rush to her.

* * *

She was night patrolling across the RiverClan border, watching for any cats that were going to attack them from the stream.

"No invaders right now," her denmate, Featherwave reported. The patrol nodded and began to hunt. Petalstone parted her jaws, scenting for any prey around her. She found a shrew digging at the grass near the riverbank. Dropping into a hunter's crouch, she leaped towards it, but she landed on the ground abruptly, scaring off the creature. Growling softly, she went to find something else. Her vision set on a thrush, she crawled towards it until she was a mouse-length away, then she pounced. She crushed its spine quickly, panting afterwards.

Another one of her clanmates, Mossfoot walked up to her. "Tired already? We have barely hunted!"

Petalnose huffed and got up. "Well sorry, _Mossfoot. _Not everyone can be like you."

"But you usually don't get this tired this fast," the brown tabby noted. With an amused twitch of her whiskers, she added, "Could you possibly be expecting Quillbreeze's kits?" Petalnose flushed at her clanmate's remark.

"I mean, we aren't _that _close," Petalnose retorted feebly. Snakefang, a cat who had also been on the patrol, snorted.

"Yeah, sure. And hedgehogs fly," he tease. Petalnose looked at her stomach. _Was it actually that obvious? Why didn't I know?_

"You're having kits?" That voice made the entire patrol fluff out their pelts in fear. A splash made them look at the river, causing them to see three RiverClan cats slide out of it, droplets soaking the ground below them.

"Too bad we'll rip out your kits before they're even born," one of them snarled. The patrol slid their claws out, slithering towards the ShadowClan cats.

Mossfoot launched herself at one of the RiverClan cats, an apprentice, Petalnose guessed. The apprentice was barreled into the river, splashing the brown tabby with their fall. A tom growled and ran towards Snakefang, clawing his muzzle. Snakefang hissed at him, kicking at his attacker's belly.

The she-cat on the patrol aimed to strike the queen, but Featherwave dug her claws into the grey RiverClanner, making her yowl in pain. Petalnose charged for the cat, giving her a slash down her throat. The grey she-cat looked down, eyes widening as she saw her blood on the ShadowClanner's paw. In a final fit of fury, she tore herself away from Featherwave and scratched Petalnose's cheek. Petalnose shrieked and whipped around to bite the she-cat's neck.

"RiverClan! Retreat!" the tom yowled. Only him and the apprentice running, they didn't look back at the corpse of their clanmate.

"ShadowClan sends their regards!" Mossfoot spat to them. Turning to the patrol, she panted. "Let's go home and inform Stormstar about this."

* * *

Her thoughts returned to the present. Looking at the body again, her tears started to dry up the more she thought about the situation. Her focus now on the brown and white pelt of her leader, she sat up.

"What happened to my father?" she asked, trembling a bit from the event.

Stormstar gazed at the body before sighing wistfully. "He had a bellyache when your patrol went out. Treethorn just found out about it, but it was too late."

The queen scanned the body, especially his teeth. There was a faint red skin lodged between his teeth. As the pieces started to click together, the black and white cat leaned over to the elder's ear, as if he could still hear his daughter. "It's RiverClan's fault," the she-cat whispered. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw cats approaching her.

Turning back to the crowd, she shakily stood up. Fury darkening her gaze, she stamped one paw on the ground. "My father was poisoned." Collective gasps shattered the stillness of the clearing, although she continued. "We'll make RiverClan pay for this! We'll tear out their insides and make them beg for mercy. And they'll never get it!"

Cats nodded grimly before they cheered for her. Petalnose stared at the starry sky above her. _We'll make them pay for this, Embersun. And your grandkits will help make that happen._


	2. TaigaClan: Responsibility

**I didn't go insane. You did. This is kind of a scene in my future story, Poppyspark's Mission, or Blood Moon, or whatever.**

_Why? Why did I ever do this? Being in Twolegplace was bad enough, now I'm expecting kits. A loner__'s kits even! _Ledgesnow walked on the warm ground below her, her normally thin flanks starting to grow round with kits.

A small, though much larger she-cat walked at her pace. "What's it like carrying kits?" she asked.

The white queen couldn't help but insult the tabby. "Well it feels being you, except the only thing that fills your stomach is fish." _And being a queen isn't as nice as eating slimy creatures nonstop. _The smaller cat whimpered and Ledgesnow flattened her ears in response. Normally, she would've loved seeing a cat cower in fear at the mere sight of her. Now, being a queen, she couldn't do that anymore without worrying.

_What if I'm like this with my kits? _one part of her fretted.

_But you didn't want them, _another one told her.

"Ledgesnow! Are you just going to stand there or keep walking?" The queen looked away from the young cat and glared at the calico a few fox-lengths in front of her.

"Excuse me, I was _thinking. _I guess you wouldn't know since you don't have a brain," she spat. A smirk forming on her face when she saw her flinch, she quickly turned her focus back to the ground below her. _Stop doing that, what will your kits think?_

_They'll obey you. And it'll teach them that they don't have power at all._

Ledgesnow shuddered as thoughts about her kits overwhelmed her. Continuing to walk with the tabby and calico, the white she-cat resumed her worrying. _Having kits, kits! Kits that I didn't even want! How will I ever be a mother?_

She didn't even notice when they got to a plain where the Twolegplace ended. A Silverpath, as ShadowClan warriors called it, glinted threateningly ahead of them. Walking over to a small hollow, Ledgesnow flattened her ears as she noticed how small it looked. _I am not giving birth to my kits in there!_

_But they don't even deserve to live. It would be better if they suffocated on the walls._

_No, it wouldn't. They should live, mistake or not._

* * *

Lying on the grassy ground below her, the WindClan queen fidgeted with a grass blade. It had been a moon since they stopped at the hollow. During this time, they found met up with the father of Ledgesnow's kits, who had left them before due to his "duties".

_Sounded like a load of fox-dung, _the white she-cat grumbled internally.

Coming back to the present, she noticed a kick inside her swollen belly. _No wonder queens are always so anxious. It's like kits will pop out of them the moment they move. _Trying to take her mind off of kits, Ledgesnow laid her head on the grass.

"Poppyspark," the white she-cat groaned. "Help me." The calico walked over to her, exasperation in her pale minty gaze.

"Okay, first of all, sweetie," Poppyspark began in an annoyed tone. "You-"

"Don't call me that," Ledgesnow growled. "It's weird, coming from the cat who came up with this entire plan."

"Fine," Poppyspark huffed. Sitting on her haunches, she gave Ledgesnow a bored look. "What?"

"Where's Charles?" Poppyspark gazed behind herself, causing the queen to see the brown and black cat walking down the slope. Calling to the tom in an obnoxious voice, she yowled, "Oh _heeeey _Charles! Could you take care of your mate?" He frowned in response, but starting her way out of the hollow, Poppyspark grinned mischievously. "Alright, thank you!" she called, her voice growing fainter as she ran out of the hole.

Charles glanced at the queen's stomach then at a pebble near Ledgesnow's head. "That Shadow cat is really annoying," he muttered.

"You literally only saw her twice. Try dealing with her for two moons straight," she meowed. _Ask him how to be a good parent, _she told herself.

_What? _a different thought asked.

_Ask him! You are clearly going to suck at parenthood if you don't._

_Pfft, like I'm going to take advice from some loner._

_Don't tell me that your ego is going to stop you from being a good mother._

_You didn't even want kits._

_But you'll have them now. So you're going to take care of them._

_Drown them! Or give up on giving birth to them!_

_That kills queens!_

The white she-cat couldn't withstand the thoughts spinning in her head. "Shut up!"

Charles jumped back and bristled beside her. "I didn't even say anything!" he protested, his amber eyes brimming with a mixture of anger and fear.

Eyes widening, Ledgesnow heaved herself up. "I didn't say it to you! I-" A jolt racked her body, making her gasp. "Kits!" she choked out. "Get Soakpaw!" The tom stood up, grabbing a stick he got from earlier with the white tabby behind him, eyes wide with panic.

"Bite down on it! Then push!" he ordered. Chomping down on the stick, the queen shook as a spasm overcame her. A tiny bundle slid out, and Soakpaw bit on the sac encasing it and licked its fur the wrong way before guiding it to the curve of its mother's belly. The white she-cat tried to look at the kit, but another spasm distracted her. Another egg sac slid out, whom's process was much less painful than the first's. A final kit was born, making the queen let out an exhausted sigh of relief. She looked down at the kits, love overwhelming her immediately as she saw them.

"So, what are you going to name them?" Charles asked, gazing at the kits lovingly.

Flicking her tail weakly at a brown and white tom, the white she-cat nudged it gently. "This one will be Hazelkit."

"Can I name a kit?" Soakpaw squealed when Ledgesnow nodded. Her tabby tail falling on a kit, it let out a squeal of protest. The loner let out a small chuckle as the apprentice fluffed out in fear. Relaxing, Soakpaw pondered the names she could come up with. "Okay, um, this black one with a white neck will be Squeakkit!"

"Hey, my kit will _not _be named Squeakkit of all things," Ledgesnow meowed.

"Oh, how about Petrelkit?"

Charles looked at Ledgesnow, who gaze a nod of approval.

"Are those kits?" Poppyspark bounded over to the group. "StarClan, Ledgesnow, why did you give birth to kits the moment I left?" Looking at the tabby kit, the calico sagged. "I think that one's dead."

The group looked at the tabby, noticing how it didn't move even a whisker or make an attempt to get milk. Ledgesnow gazed at the kit wistfully.

"Shall I give it a name to send it off to StarClan?" The queen looked at her kit again before giving the ShadowClan warrior an expectant look. "Okay, it's name will be Leapkit, since, well, she'll leap into StarClan? I really don't know how kit-naming works." Ledgesnow ignored her as she chattered on.

_Hazelkit, Petrelkit, you're just as important as me. You'll be safe, I promise. Leapkit, may you find good hunting in StarClan's skies._


	3. GladeClan: Stay Friends?

"I'm not in love with you."

Those words pierced through Cedarstripe's heart. Her best friend, her crush_, _her_ everything,_ actually said that to her. The tabby stepped back from the brown and white tabby in front of her. She planned all of this perfectly. The meeting by the willow tree behind the stack of boulders, the flowers that bloomed wonderfully in new-leaf, buds rising from the ground, prey killed neatly that were now half-eaten in front of the two cats

Her throat was closing up, her eyes started to get watery, she was shaking as she tried to force herself that none of this was real. _Look at me, sniveling like a mere kit about this._

Cedarstripe had always been sensitive. She couldn't help it.

She must've imagined this. Trembling, the warrior felt the lump in her throat as she tried to speak. Cedarstripe could only manage two words.

"Repeat that." Those words were barely a whisper and a squeak soon came after them.

He stepped forward, his olive-green gaze burning in to hers. "I'm not in love with you," he repeated. He padded closer to the she-cat. The grey tabby shrank back, her ears flattened against her head.

"Falconstrike, you only see me..." Cedarstripe knew exactly what was coming when she said those words. Those damn words.

"As a friend," the tom finished.

That made the warrior crumple to the ground below her.

Why, _why _had Falconstrike declined her request? The she-cat didn't care about the tom watching her with wide eyes that were filled with alarm. She could only reminisce in what she thought she had done wrong. Her claws gripped the ground as she thought about it.

_Was I possessive? _she asked herself. _Was I weird? Was it so suspicious to plan this entire proposal? Am I too- _

Her thinking was stopped by a familiar voice.

"Stop beating yourself up over this. It's getting old." Cedarstripe looked up. Her teary gaze could only see a brown and white blur.

"Could you hear me?" she asked.

"Yes. You aren't exactly a 'thinker' and more of a 'say everything that's inside my mind,'" Falconstirke responded, trying for a laugh out of the she-cat. Instead, she grey tabby felt herself a wave of heat wash over her.

"I know that look. Come with me," he meowed, heading back to the cave where the two lived. Cedarstripe trudged behind him.

Ferns were pushed aside as the two traveled over to where Falconstrike planned for them to meet. The undergrowth caught their pelts, causing them to have thorns, brambles, and thistles in their pelts. The she-cat could feel herbs crunch when she stepped on them, but she didn't pay much attention to them. Though, it scared away potential prey, she thought the clan could wait.

Cedarstripe didn't even know where she was until her best friend's voice snapped her back into reality. "Cedar, remember this?" Falconstrike flicked his tail downward for the cat to see. The tabby she-cat saw a hole dug into the ground behind a large stony figure that stuck up like a claw tearing the sky. She let out a small snort.

"We fell in it when we were kits," she meowed, a chuckle escaping her throat. "You cried all night."

"Yeah yeah, I was an mouse-brain, boo-hoo," Falconstrike deadpanned. Cedarstripe managed a grin.

"You are still are." That remark earned her a cuff over the ears.

"So are you," the tom retorted. "But you're missing the point. That night was when I found out you were going to be my best friend for the rest of my life."

Cedarstripe tipped her head. "I thought it was when we messed up Deerspots' den."

"To me honestly, that strengthened our friendship. That day, you were the only one who followed me when no one else did. You knew that you would get in trouble, yet you still followed me outside camp. That was true friendship," he meowed. "Your thick head couldn't get that through it at first, but we became friends. The best of friends rather."

The grey tabby bristled at his insult. Though, she would let it go. For now. Something she wanted to ask the tom had to be handled first. "But, why do you want us to just be friends?"

"We are destructive flea-brains and we can easily be set off. That doesn't make us good for each other as mates." Falconstrike's gaze hardened. "I can't risk losing even more than I already have. Neither can you."

"What do you mean by that?"

"We are best as friends. That's _it,_" he meowed with an edge to his voice.

The tabby flattened her ears. _Can you give me a better reason? _"But-"

"You can't end up like me!" The tom was screaming at her. "It's infatuation! You don't know what love is!" He turned away from her, now berating himself. "It's so _foolish! _I'm a flea-brain. She's a fox-heart!"

"Say that again, I dare you." Those words were let out through gritted teeth by Cedarstripe.

Falconstrike turned, narrowing his eyes. "Not you! _Her,_" he snarled.

She relaxed a little. "Who though?" she asked.

The grey tabby did not get an answer from him. Only the chirps of the few birds left were audible.

"Who is it?" she demanded.

"Pearlstone. I was in love with her," Falconstrike answered hoarsely.

Cedarstripe expected herself to shatter even more, but that tension was released. "What? Since when?"

"Of course you wouldn't notice," he muttered. "Since I became a warrior. I was naive and..." He drifted off.

"And what?"

He stared at her, his gaze hard. "Don't follow my example." His voice was emotionless. "_Never._" He turned tail and ran off.

"Falconstrike!" Cedarstripe's cries rang through the forest for him to come back.

He never did.

At least, not for a while

**Heeeeeeey. This is a challenge from my forum, GladeClan! "Stay Friends?" is its name. It would be nice if you joined!**


End file.
